The present invention relates to a modular control apparatus for the automated control of a technical installation.
A control apparatus in terms of the present invention can be, for example, a modular control apparatus for a configurable or programmable controller. It may be a configurable controller such as, for example, that which is marketed by the applicant of the present invention under the trade name PNOZ® or a programmable controller such as, for example, that which is marketed by the applicant under the trade name PSS®, or controllers similar to these. In this case, configurable is understood to mean matching or adjusting of a hardware component of the controller, such as, for example, wiring. In this case, programmable is understood to mean matching or adjusting a software component of the controller, for example by means of a programming language.
In particular, applicant's PSSuniversal provides a modular programmable control apparatus for standard and safety tasks, as is known from the system description “Pilz, PSSuniversal, Programmable Control Systems PSS®, System Description, No. 21256 EN 04”. In this case, a module comprises a first module part in the form of an electronics module part and a second module part in the form of a basic module part, also referred to as bus module part in the following. The electronics module part is plugged onto the bus module part by virtue of a linear movement.
A control apparatus in terms of the present invention can, however, also be a control apparatus comprising a module with three module parts. One such control apparatus is known, for example, from the X20 system by B&R, as is clear from the system description “X20 System, User's Manual, Version: 2.10 (May 2009), Model number: MAX20 ENG”. In this case, a module comprises a first module part in the form of an electronics module part, a second module part in the form of a bus module part and a third module part in the form of a field terminal module part, also referred to as connection module part. The external connectors in this system are accommodated in a separate connection module part. The connection module part can be positioned on the electronics module part by a pivoting movement.
DE 297 13 960 U1 discloses an electrical or electronic device for positioning on a mounting rail, comprising a housing, comprising at least one printed circuit board arranged in the housing and comprising bus contacts oriented in longitudinal direction of the mounting rail for a data and/or energy bus connection to adjacent electrical or electronic devices positioned on the mounting rail and having corresponding bus contacts. The housing is formed in at least two parts. It has an upper part accommodating the printed circuit board and a base part having the bus contacts and comprising a printed circuit board receptacle. The upper part can be pivoted onto the base part.
A problem with such control apparatuses comprising pivotable module parts may be that, in the case of a relatively small design, contact-making errors can occur when the module parts are combined by a pivoting movement.